Login / Register
Judaism

Kashrut or kashrus is a set of dietary laws. These laws are about which foods Jewish people should or should not eat. Some laws are also about how to prepare or eat certain foods.

Food that may be eaten is called kosher (“fit”, “proper” or “appropriate”). Food that may not be eaten is called treif or treyf.

The basic principles of kashrut come from the Torah‘s books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy.

People who follow the laws of kashrut are described as ‘keeping kosher’. Different denominations interpret the laws of kashrut in different ways. Many individuals also interpret the laws in different ways. People keep kosher – or not – in many different ways that are meaningful to them.

In some places, many food products are marked with symbols to show that they have been certified kosher by different rabbinic institutions. In this photo, a hot dog seller in New York, USA, has a cardboard sign indicating that the hot dogs are kosher.

Islam: Halal

Text adapted from English Wikipedia, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0.

Kosher Hotdog Stand, photo by Karen Blumberg via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

Related Resources

Bat Chayil

Seder

Kosher

Brit Milah

Mitzvah

Mezuzah

Mishnah

Haggadah

Challah Bread

The Synagogue

Bar Mitzvah

I Always go on High Holy Days

Still Coming to the Synagogue

Prayers & Family Dinner

Shabbat at Synagogue

Adon Olam

No Work

Shabbat Prayer

Challah Prayer

We Pray and Drink Wine

Shabbat

Day of Rest

No Instruments

My Bat Mitzvah

Bar and Bat Mitzvahs

Bar and Bat Mitzvahs big parties

No Pork

Celebrating Differences

Wearing the Tallit

Womens Vocal Traditions

Wonderful Oasis

Bread for Shabbat

Kippah

Phylacteries

Faith and Art

Parsley for Passover

Bagels and Latkes

Three Pointed Biscuits

Hukkim

Food Variations

We Have No Pork!

The Story of Purim

Festivals

Chanukah

Yom Kippur

Passover

Festival Overview

Sukkot

Lots of Festivals

Rosh Hashanah

The Eight Day Miracle of Chanukah

Purim!

Western Wall and Dome of the Rock

Jewish Dress

Covering the Hair

Explanation of Shema

Star and Candlestick

Garment Fringes

Various Symbols

Belonging

Recipe Purim Hamantashen